The Doll
by justanoutlaw
Summary: Regina cannot shake the break in that occurred during her pregnancy...because a subtle reminder she keeps throwing away won't let her.


Regina walked out of the church, a hand adjusted on her stomach. She and Robin didn't attend services often, but they tried to go on the holidays. The two were well aware it made them "those people", but they honestly didn't care. Their boys enjoyed Sunday School and were living off the high of the Easter candy they had for breakfast. Normally, Regina would insist they wait a bit before rotting their teeth, but soon their world would be changing. They'd be getting a little sister soon, which would mean their parents would be busy with a new baby. Robin and Regina decided to let them have a few last special days when they were still a family of four.

"Regina!" She turned to find Mary Margaret Swan standing behind her. Her husband David was clutching her hand, both of them smiling. The older couple that lived across the street had always invited them to church and Mary Margaret was always very excited when they took them up on the invitation. "Look at you, I haven't seen you in a while. When are you due?"

"8 weeks," Regina replied, smiling. Mary Margaret could be a bit too nice sometimes, but Regina was okay with it. Sometimes she wondered how she managed to be so peppy, given everything that had happened to her.

"Mama's going to give us a baby sister," Roland told Mary Margaret, grinning from ear to ear.

Mary Margaret's smile disappeared and Regina felt her heartbreak. She had hid the sex of the baby for a reason, not that Roland knew anything about it. Mary Margaret and David were parents themselves, but they hadn't seen their daughter in nearly a decade. Emma had once been a sweet girl, Regina remembered when they moved in and had baby Henry, she offered to babysit and helped her mom bake cookies to bring to them. Then Killian Jones and his cult came to town, brainwashed her and she had disappeared into the night.

Robin placed a hand on his youngest son's shoulder to get him to stop talking. "I'm sorry, Mary Margaret," he said, softly.

"It's fine," David forced a smile on his face. "He didn't know. And besides, daughters are a special gift."

"David's right," Mary Margaret said, clearing her throat. "We'll see you both around."

Regina thought of the Swans later that day as she put the finishing pieces on her daughter's nursery. She had never been one for pink, so instead it was decked out in royal purples and golds. She wondered just how she would feel if she ever lost her little girl or any of her children. A hand went over her stomach and she rubbed it slowly, feeling Margot move around.

"Penny for your thoughts?" Robin asked as he entered the room.

"No, it's all good," Regina replied with a shake of the head. She noticed a wrapped box in his hand, complete with a big bow. "What's that?"

"Something that wouldn't fit in your Easter basket."

"Robin, you know I don't need anything…"

"It's not really for you, it's for Margot."

Regina settled down into the rocking chair, carefully unwrapping it. She lifted the lid and found a beautiful porcelain doll nestled in tissue paper. Her eyes grew wide with wonder as she lifted it out. The doll had long black hair and big brown eyes.

"Robin, she's perfect."

"I found her at an antique shop. I know you're hoping little Margot will love dolls, so I figured, why not get her one that will probably look like her."

"I love it, and I'm sure she will too." She gestured for him to lean down so she could give him a kiss before getting up and moving some of the other dolls around. The new one sat in the center of the shelf, seemingly watching over the rest of the room. "Come on, we should give Roland a bath."

That night, Regina's sleep was startled by the sound of breaking glass. She got out of bed and went to the window, seeing the lights on at the Swan house across the street. She could make out shadows…including one that was clearly holding a rifle. As quickly as she could with her swollen stomach, she made her way to the bed and quickly shook Robin awake.

"I think there are intruders at the Swans'."

Robin leapt out of bed to go investigate while Regina called the police. She went to make sure the boys were still sleeping soundly, before heading down the stairs herself. She noticed the front door was opened and moved to the porch, watching as Robin as raced back across the street.

"Shut and lock the door, now."

"Why? What's going on?"

"Whoever was over there, killed Mary Margaret and David."

Regina felt her heart sink in her chest. She locked the door behind him as he waited outside for the police to arrive. She went back up the stairs to once again check on Roland and Henry, when something suddenly felt off…almost as if she were being watched. She turned to find two dark figures standing there in white robes that were covered in blood.

One had a hook for his left hand and he charged for Regina. She reached for a candlestick they kept on a table in the hall and hit him over the head with it. He fell with a thud to the floor. The second figure began to charge and Regina was ready to whack her to, but she was pushed to the floor besides the unconscious man. She suddenly felt like a turtle on her back, unable to move with the weight of her pregnant belly. Eventually, Regina managed to roll over and saw that whoever had attacked her, was now missing.

Grabbing onto the nearest doorknob, she pushed herself up and checked her room, followed by Henry's and then Roland's. There was nothing there that shouldn't be. As she reached the nursery, she realized the door was locked. Regina pounded as hard as she could and tried to use her weight to break it down, but nothing was working. Eventually, she heard footsteps rushing up the stairs and turned with the candlestick, ready to attack, until she realized that there were policemen standing there with Robin. They pushed her out of the way and broke down the door.

There was a struggle, followed by gunshots. Despite her better instinct, Regina went into the nursery and found the dead body of Emma Swan. In the young woman's arms was the doll that Regina had just opened hours earlier, the blood seeping onto her crystal skin.

***x***

The image of Emma's body wouldn't leave Regina's head for months. Even after Margot was born, Regina just didn't feel safe. So, she and Robin sold their home and moved a town over. They needed a fresh start. Before they left, Regina had disposed of the doll that had once been in Emma's arms. She didn't want it anywhere near her daughter ever again.

When they unpacked at their new home, however, Regina found the doll in the midst of the boxes in the nursery.

"Robin," she called out to her husband and he walked in, wiping his hands on his jeans. "Did you pack this in here?"

"No. You said you didn't want it."

Regina tucked a strand of hair behind the doll's ear. She had washed the blood off the doll's face, but she could swear that she could still see it there before she blinked. "I thought I threw it out."

"Maybe one of the boys packed it in there? Thought that Margot would want it?"

"Maybe."

"I'll throw it out right now."

He took the doll out of her hands and walked out of the room. Regina crossed to the crib, taking Margot out and rocking her slowly.

"It's time for a fresh start," she whispered. "Don't you worry."

It wasn't long before Robin had to return to work. With everything that was going on, Regina felt like she needed to stay as close to her kids as possible, so she became a stay-at-home mom. She dropped the boys off at school and ran some errands with Margot throughout the day. One afternoon in particular, after she had gotten her daughter to nap, Regina decided to close her eyes herself. She turned off the stove after making her tea and headed up to her bedroom.

She awoke a half hour later to the smell of smoke drifting up to her. She ran down the stairs and saw flames underneath the door of the kitchen. Before Regina could run upstairs to grab her daughter, she felt herself being pulled back. She collapsed to the ground and no matter how hard she tried to get up, she simply couldn't. As she crawled towards the stairs, suddenly the porcelain doll Robin had thrown out appeared in front of her. She reached out for it, but as soon as it appeared, it was gone.

Suddenly, she was able to get to her feet and run up the stairs. She held Margot close as she dialed 9-1-1.

Luckily, the fire was contained and only the kitchen was affected. Regina could feel the judgement from the firefighters as he spoke to her about the cause of it.

"You have to remember to turn off your stove when you're done using it," he said, as though she were stupid.

"I did!" Regina insisted.

"You have a newborn, it can cause you to be forgetful."

"I didn't forget!"

Despite her arguments, she was given a long lecture before he finally left. Robin came home not long after, checking over his girls to make sure they were okay.

"Robin, I swear to you, I turned off those burners," Regina told him.

"I believe you."

"Look, when I smelt the smoke and came downstairs…this is going to sound crazy, but it was like something kept pulling me back."

"Regina…"

"And then the doll appeared."

"The doll?"

"The one I made you throw away-twice now."

"Regina…"

"I know, I know. I sound insane, but it's true. There's something seriously wrong here." She could see the doubt in his eyes. "You don't believe me."

"I believe you saw it. I also think that your head was probably hurting from all the smoke you inhaled. Did you get checked out by an EMT or anything?"

Regina didn't continue the argument, she knew it would just continue to make her look crazy. That night, when she tucked her daughter into bed, she saw the doll sitting back on the shelf. She picked it up and stared at its face.

"What the hell is going on with you?"

***x***

Regina spent the next few days, not allowing Margot or the doll out of her sight. She spent her time in the library, pouring through dozens of books about possession and witchcraft. She felt like she was hitting a dead end, until she found a book about a coven with the same name of the cult she knew that Emma had been apart of: The Eight.

According to legend, the Coven of the Eight had eight prominent leaders that had been through the hardest of times and allowed it to darken their souls. The head of them all-Eloise Gardener-had watched her entire family be murdered in the 1600s and as a result, she had killed the tiny village she lived in. They found innocent people to bring into their coven and taught them witchcraft. They had mostly been taken out during the Salem Witch Trials, however, their books were passed down from generation to generation. Each member had a tattoo…one she remembered seeing on Emma's wrist. It was a simple flower, but it replicated one that when used, could kill.

Emma had put a curse on her daughter's doll and now her spirit possessed it. Until the spirit left the doll, there was no way that her family-especially her daughter-would ever be at peace.

After doing some more research, Regina found the one person in town that claimed to know anything about magic and the Coven of the Eight. Baron Samdi was a self-proclaimed expert, that had lost a child to the cult and had since dedicated everything he had to making sure that no one else went through what he did.

"How do I get rid of this doll?" Regina asked, placing it in the center of the table.

Samdi shook his head. "You cannot."

"So, I'm stuck with it forever?"

"Emma Swan had been possessed by the spirit of the Coven when she joined it, just as her boyfriend had. When she died, that spirit went inside of the doll. The only way to take it out, is to sacrifice a pure soul for it."

His eyes traveled to the baby carrier that sat at Regina's feet and she grabbed hold of it, fierce protection filling her eyes.

"No."

"I'm not suggesting you do so, but that's what the spirit wants, to corrupt another young, innocent soul."

"But if someone pure of heart sacrificed their life, while holding the doll, their spirit would take over it instead."

"Yes."

Regina looked from the doll to her daughter. She needed to protect her family and she knew the only way how.

**25 Years Later**

Margot felt Tilly squeeze her hand as they stood at the entrance of the cemetery.

"Do you want me to come with you?" She asked.

Margot shook her head. "No. I'll be fine."

She made her way through the rows of the tombstones before she finally reached the one she desired. Margot had spent years coming to visit her mother's grave with her father and brothers, but this was the first time that she finally felt at peace doing so. For years, she had never been able to understand why her mother committed suicide when she was an infant. According to her dad, she had never been the same after the break in that occurred while she was still pregnant. Regina had left a note behind, but Robin had always claimed it to be nonsense, something she had written in her less than desirable mental state. Margot had finally read it herself when she went through her father's things after he passed of a heart attack, his own health had declined after losing the love of his life.

_My dearest Robin,_

_I know you may hate me for this, but I had to protect our daughter, all of our family. The Coven of the Eight would never let us rest. I traded my soul, so Margot may live. Please forgive me._

_Love, Regina_

Roland and Henry believed what their father had. Their mother had lost it near the end, she didn't know what she was saying. They urged Margot to let it go, to move on. She couldn't. Instead, she did some research into the coven and it soon lead her to an elderly Baron Samdi, who told her everything. When she returned home that night, she found the doll that she had kept with her throughout her life.

"I thought you abandoned me," Margot said, the doll clutched in her arms. "But you were with me the whole time. You gave your life to save mine and because of it…I've lived a pretty great one."

Margot placed the doll onto the grass that had grown in front of the grave. She kissed the top of the doll's head.

"I love you."

Margot turned around, heading back to her fiancé. What she didn't see was the tear that fell down the doll's porcelain cheek.


End file.
